Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 7/1/1991
From: New York, NY
Matches:
1.) Dino Bravo defeated Shane Douglas
2.) Ricky Steamboat defeated Paul Roma
3.) The Berzerker defeated Jimmy Snuka
4.) WWF World Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys defeated the Hart Foundation by disqualification
5.) The Warlord defeated Greg Valentine
6.) Jake Roberts defeated Earthquake
7.) Haku & Barbarian defeated Mr. Fuji & Kato
8.) The Ultimate Warrior defeated The Undertaker in a body bag match
Angle Developments/Notes:
1. Bravo is sporting brown hair nowadays instead of blonde. Gorilla Monsoon puts over Bravo’s apparent upper body growth since the last time seeing him. Douglas uses his speed to hit a leaping cross body for an early near fall. Douglas tries a monkey flip out of the corner but Bravo counters with an atomic drop. Douglas hits a few dropkicks for a late surge and mounts Bravo with right hands. Bravo catches Douglas coming off the ropes with a side slam to win the match. It was a rather lackluster opening bout on the show. Douglas tried his best to use his speed to get the match some fast pace action but it seemed as if Bravo wasn’t interested in going that route.
2. Roma attacks Steamboat before the bell delivering a scoop slam to get the cheap advantage. Steamboat backdrops Roma to the floor and back in the ring arm drags Roma. Well, Steamboat’s early advantage is really just arm drags and working on Roma’s shoulder with an arm lock. Roma atomic drops Steamboat and follows up with a quick clothesline to stop Steamboat from hammering away on him in the corner. Roma heads to the top rope to hit an axe handle shot. Roma slams Steamboat to the canvas as he was trying to hang onto the ropes. Roma delivers a few back breakers but doesn’t go for the cover. Steamboat begins to make his comeback with a few chops after an atomic drop. Steamboat hits an overhand chop off the top but Roma gets his knees up on a big splash attempt. Roma goes chest first into the corner and is met with a top rope cross body by Steamboat which is good enough for the win. I thought it was a decent match.
3. Snuka and Berzerker trade wooing to the crowd after a few minutes of action. This match isn’t all that interesting to me if I am being honest about it. Snuka leaps off the middle rope to head butt Berzerker but soon ran into a big boot in the corner. Berzerker ties Snuka up in the ropes so he can deliver a boot to the midsection but misses a running attempt and Snuka wiggles the top rope! Berzerker catches Snuka coming off the ropes and drops Snuka throat first across the top rope to win the match. That was uneventful and quite boring to me.
4. Brutus Beefcake’s music hits as it is time for the Barber Shop interview segment. Beefcake introduces his guest, Randy Savage! Beefcake says they are going to be playing a game. Savage has to answer simply yes or no. If he gets them right he gets to go for the grand prize. Beefcake wants to know if he and Elizabeth are an item. Savage answers yes. Beefcake wants to know if they have a relationship, which Savage answers yes considering it is similar to the first one. Beefcake wants to know if Savage is in love with Elizabeth. Savage answers that he is in love with her! Beefcake wants to know if Savage is going to ask Elizabeth to marry him. Savage says yes yet again. Savage wants to know what he has won. Beefcake says he has won a free haircut by Beefcake. Savage asks Beefcake he knows where Savage wants to marry her. Savage reveals that he wants to marry her at SummerSlam!
5. It’s time for the WWF World Tag Team Championship match. Neidhart and Knobs kick off the match with Neidhart getting the quick advantage hitting both Knobs and Saggs with shoulder blocks. Neidhart clotheslines both men and along with Bret send them to the floor with right hands. Bret tagged in and scoop slams Knobs for the advantage until Saggs entered but Bret quickly arm dragged him as well. Bret puts Saggs in the tree of woe and stomps away on him while Neidhart chokes him behind the referees back. Neidhart ends up being double teamed in the champ’s corner. Neidhart is kicked to the floor where Saggs hits Neidhart in the guy with a biker’s helmet! Saggs ends up missing a top rope elbow drop as Neidhart gets his knees up. Bret gets the hot tag and goes to work delivering right hands. Bret nails Knobs with a middle rope forearm shot and now everyone is in the ring. Neidhart sets Knobs up for the Hart Attack and they hit it! Saggs makes the save by raking Bret in the eyes. Neidhart pummels Saggs in the corner. Bret gets the helmet and whacks Knobs and Saggs with the helmet. Bret covers Knobs but the referee calls for the bell giving the match to the Nasty Boys due to Bret using the helmet. Probably the best match thus far but it could’ve been better. This would end up being the last time Bret and Neidhart teamed until 1997, I believe. The final sequence was done nicely I should add.
6. Backstage, Sean Mooney interviews Jimmy Hart and Earthquake. Hart says that Quake will take Andre the Giant out again and Jake Roberts will be carried out of the ring. Quake says that Andre will be on his mind but will take Andre out the way he had done before.
7. Backstage, Sean Mooney is standing with Jake Roberts and Andre the Giant. Roberts asks Mooney if he feels safe. Roberts says that Quake shouldn’t feel safe either. Andre chimes saying that he doesn’t need to be in the ring to make Quake fear him. Andre says he is Quake’s worst nightmare.
8. Backstage, Mooney is with Haku and Barbarian. Haku says that he and Barbarian don’t do dirty work for Heenan. They consider him the best. Barbarian says he trusted Mr. Fuji for a long time but they are going to take care of the Orient Express.
9. Backstage, Sean Mooney is with the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Bearer says that tonight he will rely on the power of the body bag. Undertaker will fill his body bag with Warrior. Sean Mooney played the scared role very well here.
10. Greg Valentine tried to put the figure four on Warlord but wasn’t successful on the attempt. Valentine tries to knock Warlord off his feet and finally does after a running elbow strike. Late in the match, Valentine tries to knock Warlord off his feet again but isn’t able to do it even after doing the same moves that succeeded in doing so. Warlord power slams Valentine out of the corner and wins the match. God, that was just so boring.
11. Andre the Giant grabs a microphone to warn to Earthquake to tell him that he is going to be here for a long time and Quake flips out because he is scared of a guy who needs assistance walking. Quake is clearly distracted by Andre at ringside as he tries to get any advantage on Roberts. Roberts punches Quake a few times but is unable to get him off his feet. Roberts knee lifts Quake to knock him off his feet. Quake goes to the floor where he gets startled by Andre. Back in the ring, Roberts drops Quake with a short arm clothesline. Quake counters the DDT with an atomic drop. Quake sends Roberts hard back first into the corner and drops an elbow to Roberts lower back. Quake goes all the way to the top rope when Roberts goes to the floor but simply gets off. Quake runs into a big boot in the corner and Roberts begins to jab Quake several times but misses a knee lift. Quake goes for the sit down splash but stops when he gets distracted by Andre. Roberts gets up and plants Quake with the DDT! Roberts makes the cover and gets the three count! After the match, Quake attacks Roberts and gets a chair to go after Andre but is chased to the backstage area by Roberts who grabbed his snake! I enjoyed the match and the DDT spot was actually surprising. I just don’t know why Quake is afraid of Andre who needs help walking. That just seems foolish to me.
12. Mr. Fuji throws salt at Bobby Heenan before the next match and Heenan looks to get into the ring. Heenan doesn’t go into the ring as his guys Haku and Barbarian come down. Kato is worked on early but dropkicks Haku to put an end to that. Fuji is actually tagged in and slammed by Haku. Fuji puts his leg on the ropes but Heenan tries to shove it off on the cover attempts. Haku suplexs Fuji from the apron back into the ring! Fuji avoids a middle rope diving head butt and tags out to Kato. Kato sends Haku to the floor where Heenan goes to help him but is attacked by Fuji from behind! Fuji is actually beating up Haku with chops. Kato runs the ropes but is tripped by Heenan and Haku gets the pin following an elbow drop. After the match, Heenan enters the ring to get at Fuji but is held back. Fuji throws more salt at Heenan before leaving. The interactions between Heenan and Fuji far more enjoyable than I was expecting.
13. Warrior runs down to the ring and drags Taker to the floor where he hammers away on him before ramming Taker into the ring steps! Warrior tosses Taker head first into the ring post. Back into the ring Warrior kicks Taker in the gut but isn’t having much success. Taker clotheslines Warrior as he charges the corner and follows up with a leaping clothesline. Warrior battles back with a scoop slam but runs into a big boot in the corner. Taker chokes Warrior in the corner for a few moments until Warrior is groggy. Warrior plants Taker with a pile driver but Taker casually gets up. Warrior plants Taker with a second pile driver but Taker again just sits up. Warrior goes for a third on and connects with it. Taker tries to sit up but is unable to! Warrior tries for a big splash but Taker blocks it by getting his hand up. Taker hits the tombstone pile driver on Warrior! Taker goes to the body bag and rolls Warrior into the bag. Taker tries to zip up the bag but Warrior fights out of the bag with right hands. Warrior clotheslines Taker and grabs the urn to hit Taker in the head! Warrior gets the body bag and successfully puts Taker in the bag to win the match! A fairly enjoyable main event to close the show. The fans were rabid for it and even though Taker lost the match, he still had plenty of heat afterwards.
Final Thoughts:
Outside of three matches this show leaves a lot to be desired. The tag title match, Roberts/Quake and the main event were all fine matches and had some entertainment value with them. Everything else really felt flat and didn’t hold my interest. Perhaps Steamboat/Roma to a certain extent was good as well but that was more of an average match.
That being said four out of eight matches had some entertainment to them. That makes it an average show at best for me. But, if I had to choose I’d say the bad outweighed the good here.
Thanks for reading.